New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 28, 2024

Board approves $8.7 million capital improvement plan

By Alan Chamberlain | March 4, 2010 10:00 am

Charles City supervisors have approved an $8.7 million Capital Improvement Plan for the county that covers the next five years and follows recommendations forwarded to the board by the county’s Planning Commission.

What’s missing from the plan are several big ticket items requested by county schools including a $4 million middle school gym, a $1.4 million School Board office, and a $1.1 million athletics field house for the high school.

Supervisors voted 3-0 to accept the nine-project plan during their Feb. 23 meeting. All nine are spread over the next three fiscal years with nothing appearing in fiscal 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Only three of 16 projects totalling $10 million that were submitted by schools, made the final cut. The three approved — a multipurpose room, classrooms/laboratories, and gymnasium (all at the elementary school) — account for almost $2 million.

On the county side, six of 13 requested projects appear on the plan. The county had asked for just over $12 million in projects, but only $6.6 million met with final approval.

The overall plan, however, is just that and not a document set in stone. Projects come to fruition only if funding is available and can be dropped or added since the plan is reviewed and amended on a yearly basis.

Topping the list on the approved plan is a $1 million fire station for the Roxbury area of the county. Number two is another $1 million to upgrade the Adkins Road fire station.

Both projects along with $170,000 for design work on a new public library, $250,000 for commercial Internet in the Roxbury Development Center, $250,000 for high speed Internet in the Courthouse Development Area, and just over $400,000 for the elementary school gym are penciled in for the next fiscal year (2010-11) at a total cost of just over $3.1 million.

In fiscal 2011-12, the plan lists elementary school classrooms/laboratories ($1.6 million), a boat ramp ($295,000), and the elementary school multipurpose room ($81,000) for a total of almost $2 million.

Placed for now in 2012-13 is almost $3.6 million to complete the library project.

Funding sources listed for the projects include federal stimulus dollars, grants, and money from the county’s general fund.

Not making the list from the county’s side are several utility projects involving new central water systems and upgrading existing wastewater treatment plants along with improvements to the county Parks and Recreation Department’s Ruthville gym and a new bathhouse at Charles City Social Center.

Other school projects getting the ax include replacing hallway carpet with tile, repairing walkways, paving high school parking lots, redesigning the middle/high school offices, football practice field, tennis courts, outdoor basketball court, baseball/softball dugouts, additional high school gym seating, and modifying the high school gym foyer.